Introducing TypeManufactur, Georg Salden and his typeface Planet

Posted January 30, 2014

We are very excited to welcome German type design veteran Georg Salden and his foundry TypeManufactur as a new partner on Webtype. Not only has Salden been creating typefaces for over 50 years now, but he was also one of the first designers to offer his fonts directly to customers, first under the GST (Georg Salden Type) label and, since 2003, as TypeManufactur. In 2009, he teamed up with type designer Ludwig Übele who helps with production and distribution. Please check out their first release on Webtype: Planet.

Georg Salden has designed more than 40 type families, each with its own character. But he always put legibility first. Planet is no exception. It is an all-purpose sans-serif with a humanist touch, practical and without affectations. Round letters are circular with diagonal terminals opening up counters, while straight-sided characters are comparably narrow. This allows for a compact letterfit with good readability. The result is a restrained, coherent family in six weights with lively details such as snappy descenders that lend it a certain charm. The italics, available in four weights, are narrow and dynamic, creating an interesting contrast to the roman while staying readable enough to be used on their own.

The Light and Book weight with old style figures (accessible via the onum font-feature-setting) and the default lining figures. The flat top 3 and the 5 are very distinctive.

Planet is a great choice for body copy as well as labels and headings, rendering clear down to a font-size of 14px. Adaptive in design, it feels at home in corporate and editorial environments, as well as on retail sites. Try to combine it with humanist serif faces such as Poynter Serif RE, Proforma or Marat for a warm atmosphere, or a display face like Freight Display and Whitman Display for added classiness.

As with all fonts on Webtype, Planet can be tested free of charge for 30 days. For more details, see the Planet webfont page.

Make sure to also visit What a Character, spotlighting some of the beautiful glyphs Georg Salden has been creating.